The present invention relates generally to the field of electronic mail (“e-mail”) software and systems. More particularly, the present invention is related to advertiser-supported e-mail software for delivering advertisements to client computers having this advertiser-supported e-mail software installed thereon.
Electronic mail (“e-mail”) has become a ubiquitous form of communication in recent years. In general, e-mail works as follows. E-mail software is installed on a client device, e.g., a personal computer (PC), equipped or configured for communications with a multiplicity of other client devices via a communications network. Access to the communications network can be provided by a communications network service provider, e.g., an Internet Service Provider (ISP) and/or a proprietary network e-mail service provider, with whom the user establishes one or more e-mail accounts, each identified by a unique e-mail address, e.g., president@whitehouse.gov. The e-mail software, e.g., the e-mail client, enables a user of the client device to compose e-mail messages, to send e-mail messages to other client devices via the communications network, and to read e-mail messages received from other client devices via the communications network. A user can send e-mail messages to multiple recipients at a time, which capability is sometimes referred to using a mailing list or, in extreme cases, bulk mailing. The typical e-mail client supports Post Office Protocol Version 3 (POP3), Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP), Internet Mail Access Protocol, Version 4 (IMAP4), and/or Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions (MIME).
Each ISP and each proprietary network e-mail service provider independently operates and controls an e-mail communication system (or, simply, “e-mail system”). These independently-operated e-mail systems are bi-directional store-and-forward communication systems that are interconnected to one another via the Internet. Each e-mail system generally includes a number of e-mail servers that store inbound and outbound e-mail messages and then forward them, route them, or simply make them available to the users/intended recipients. Different e-mail systems are operated and controlled by independent control entities. With the advent of the Internet, the user is not restricted to a single system providing both an incoming e-mail server (or server cluster) and an outgoing e-mail server (cluster), i.e., both the incoming and outgoing e-mail servers under the control of a single entity. Most e-mail clients, other than proprietary e-mail systems such as AOL and JUNO, can be configured to receive e-mail from an incoming e-mail server (cluster) controlled by a first entity and an outgoing email server (cluster) controlled by a second, totally independent entity. It will be appreciated that most casual email users download from and upload to respective servers operated by a single entity.
Generally, when a user desires to send e-mail messages, or to check for received messages (which operations can occur automatically according to a prescribed schedule), the e-mail software is activated. Upon being activated, the e-mail software:                effects a connection or communications session with the host ISP or e-mail service provider via a prescribed communication link by invoking a prescribed communications mechanism, e.g., a dial-up modem, an ISDN connection, a DSL or ADSL connection, etc.;        electronically transmits or transports any e-mail messages desired to be sent to the e-mail server system operated by the host ISP or e-mail service provider, e.g., via an SMTP server;        receives any inbound e-mail messages forwarded to the client device by the host ISP or e-mail service provider, e.g., via a POP3 or IMAP4 server; and        stores any received e-mail messages in a prescribed memory location within the client device, e.g., at either the default location established by the e-mail client or a user-selected location.        
Exemplary e-mail software is the commercially available e-mail software marketed by the present assignee, QUALCOMM INCORPORATED, under the registered trademarks EUDORA PRO® and EUDORA LIGHT® (hereinafter sometimes referred to generically as “Eudora”). In general, the EUDORA PRO e-mail software provides the user with a “full feature set,” and the EUDORA LIGHT e-mail software provides the user with a “reduced feature set” that is a subset of the “full feature set” provided by the EUDORA PRO e-mail software. The EUDORA PRO e-mail software (the previous version of which is referred to as “EP4” in this document) must be paid for by the user (or by someone else on behalf of the user), and can thus be regarded as “Payware”, whereas the EUDORA LIGHT e-mail software is provided free of charge to registered users, and thus, can be regarded as “Freeware.” Each of the client devices that has any version of Eudora installed thereon can be regarded as a “Eudora client.” Presently, there is a very large installed base of Eudora clients.
The present assignee, QUALCOMM INCORPORATED, has recently released a new version of its popular EUDORA e-mail software that is popularly known as EUDORA Adware (hereinafter sometimes referred to simply as “Adware”). This new Adware version of Eudora is contained within, i.e., is an integral part of, a new Eudora software product that contains the previously-referenced Payware and Freeware versions of Eudora. In general, each version of Eudora contained within this Eudora product release constitutes a separate operating mode of a single software product. Advantageously, the Adware Version of Eudora Pro® can be activated or switched between modes either automatically, in accordance with prescribed criteria or conditions, or manually, in accordance with prescribed user actions, e.g., registration, payment, selection, etc. This new Adware version of Eudora and the multi-moded Eudora e-mail software product that contains the same were motivated by a desire on the part of the present assignee to provide users with the “full feature set” afforded by the Payware version of Eudora free of charge to the users, by means of distributing advertisements paid for by advertisers to Eudora clients, thereby effectively shifting the source of payment/revenue from the users to the advertisers. Thus, this new Eudora software product can be regarded as “advertiser-supported” or “advertiser-subsidized” or simply “sponsored” software.
Most Internet service providers (ISPs) and e-mail service providers charge users a flat monthly subscription fee, although some providers still charge users based on usage, e.g., additional charges for on-line time beyond a prescribed level. However, there exists a population of users who desire to have basic e-mail service, but who do not require or want to pay for Internet access. A few companies have addressed the needs of this market segment by providing free e-mail service to users/subscribers who agree to receive advertisements along with their received e-mail messages. In this way, the advertisers support or sponsor the free e-mail service.
Based upon the relevant literature, it appears that the first company to propose and offer such a free e-mail service was FreeMark Communications (a.k.a. “ProductView Interactive”). The FreeMark system and method for providing free e-mail service is disclosed in PCT published patent application International Publication Number WO 96/24213, having a priority date of Feb. 1, 1995, based on U.S. application Ser. No. 08/382,118, naming as inventors Marv Goldschmitt and Robert A. Young. The disclosure of this published PCT patent application is expressly incorporated herein by reference. In short, this free e-mail system was subsidized by advertisers that appended advertisements as attachments, e.g., graphical interchange format (GIF) image file attachments, to e-mail messages transmitted to subscribers. The advertisements were stored on the subscriber's computer for viewing while the subscriber was off-line reading the received e-mail messages. In some of their promotional literature, FreeMark referred to the appended advertisements as “postage stamps”. In FreeMark's literature, each message received by the subscriber was depicted as an envelope bearing a postage stamp; the postage stamp was the advertisement.
Subsequently, a company by the name of Juno Online Services, L.P. (hereinafter simply “JUNO”) introduced a free e-mail service. The JUNO system and method for providing free e-mail service is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,809,242, which issued to Marsh et al. on Dec. 8, 1998, the disclosure of which is also expressly incorporated herein by reference. With the proprietary JUNO e-mail system, a plurality of advertisements are downloaded to subscribers when they connect to the proprietary JUNO e-mail server system to send and/or receive e-mail messages, with the advertisements being stored locally on the subscriber's computer for display when the subscriber is off-line composing or reading e-mail messages, i.e., when the subscriber activates Juno e-mail software previously installed on the subscriber's computer. The locally stored advertisements are displayed under the control of a display scheduler resident on the subscriber's computer, to thereby enable the advertisements to be rotated or changed in a dynamic manner. This results in a continuously-changing display of advertisements being presented to the subscriber. Various other aspects and features of the proprietary JUNO e-mail system are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,838,790, which issued to McAuliffe et al on Nov. 17, 1998, and in U.S. Pat. No. 5,848,397, which issued to Marsh et al on Dec. 8, 1998; the disclosures of both of these patents are also expressly incorporated herein by reference.
With both the FreeMark and JUNO proprietary free e-mail systems, both the advertisements and the e-mail messages are stored on a single e-mail system (e.g., JUNO stores both on a single, unique server which is assigned (bound) to the user when he/she first signs up for service), and are distributed to subscribers under the direction of a common control entity that is controlling all part of the e-mail system. While this may be a desirable system architecture for providing free e-mail service, it is not a suitable system architecture for a system whose purpose is to distribute advertiser-supported e-mail software that is e-mail system-independent, i.e., which is not tied to a particular proprietary e-mail service provider but, rather, supports public standards, e.g., POP3, SMTP, IMAP4, etc. Moreover, the free e-mail system architecture is not suitable for the many people who maintain multiple e-mail accounts, e.g., business and personal e-mail accounts. As mentioned previously, the present inventors were motivated by a desire to provide a system and method for distributing advertisements to Eudora clients in order to generate advertising revenues that would allow a fully-featured version of the Eudora e-mail software to be widely distributed free of charge to end-users. Moreover, the present inventors were motivated by a desire to provide e-mail software that is both universal and e-mail system-independent, i.e., it is not tied to any particular proprietary e-mail service or service provider.
Accordingly, the present inventors have developed a novel multi-moded Eudora e-mail software product that contains the Payware, Freeware and Adware, and have also devised a novel system and method for distributing advertisements to clients equipped with this new software product. As will become fully apparent hereinafter, the purpose and architecture of this novel system are radically different than that of the proprietary FreeMark and JUNO e-mail systems. In this regard, the multi-moded Eudora e-mail software product, and the novel system and method for distributing advertisements to clients equipped with this new software product, embraces a number of different inventions that will become fully apparent from the following disclosure and the documents referenced therein.